Mothers have come under fire for feeding their babies so-called ‘knockout’ bottles filled with a mix of ingredients designed to make them sleep through the night.
The concoctions, which are made from formula or breast milk mixed with cereal, baby food and even medicine, have been called ‘dangerous’ and a ‘choking hazard’ by child nutritionists.
The bottles caused a stir on social media after Alexis Delaney, from New York, posted on Facebook to say her mixture – which included adding Tylenol when her little boy was unwell – had worked ‘every time.’
The post was first shared in November but has resurfaced online after racking up more than 20,000 shares. Other mothers from around the world have also shared their take on ‘knockout bottles’, claiming they work wonders.
The controversial post attracted a storm of criticism from other parents who voiced their concerns over giving solid food to babies younger than six months.
The NHS recommends babies are solely breast or formula fed and says adding ‘extras’ to baby’s formula powder can cause constipation, dehydration and undernourishment.
Mothers have taken to social media after a post by Alexis Delaney, from New York, which showed her adding Tylenol to her child’s bottle, resurfaced online
In the post shared by Alexis she described adding Tylenol to her child’s bottle to put them to sleep
Nutritionists have also spoken to FEMAIL about the dangers, saying they could lead to babies ingesting too many calories.
Sharing a snap of the concoction in November, Alexis wrote: ‘Y’all parents today!! Don’t know these knockout bottles! S**t worked every time. Especially when [the baby] is sick, add some Tylenol. Awww man out like the kite [sic].’
The post drew criticism from other parents, including from one who argued: ‘Cereal is NOT made to be bottle fed!’
While another wrote: ‘I’ve never used rice cereal in or out of the bottle. There’s no nutritional value. Learn to love the babies’ cries at night because one day you will look back and miss it and wish you could have that back.’
One Facebook user branded parents ‘idiots’ for using ‘knockout bottles’, writing: ‘That is disgusting, and very dangerous to any child!!! Who let these idiots ever take a baby home from the hospital!?! This goes far beyond bad parenting.’
But other mothers wrote in support, revealing they had mixed formula milk with apple sauce, chicken, cereal, fruit and jar food.
One Twitter user posted: ‘I couldn’t get my teething four month old to sleep through the night to save my life and I just started working again so I desperately needed sleep.
‘I mixed some cereal in a bottle with [medicine] benadryl and melatonin. Put him down, let him scream for about two hours and he was OUT for the whole night. For any of you that needed some tips on how to get your infant to sleep.’
Another mother shared a snap of her own ‘knockout bottle’, saying it will put her son to sleep immediately. Ingredients like cereal, apple sauce and medicine are mixed in with milk
Mothers have taken to social media to share their ‘knockout’ bottles which appear to contain cereal. These ones were posted by parents from unknown locations
One mother took to Facebook to tell others that she mixed some cereal with benadryl and melatonin to make her baby sleep. She shared it as a ‘tip’ for other mothers
While another admitted: ‘Cereal milk bottles knock my son out! He will be asleep for 5-6 hours straight!’
Charlotte Stirling-Reed, a Nutrition Consultant who specialises in maternal, infant and childhood nutrition, said: ‘Knock-out bottles put babies at risk of choking.
‘It’s not ideal and not recommended to offer babies solid foods from bottles. The action of drinking milk is very different to the action of swallowing solid foods, and therefore this could potentially put babies at risk of choking.
‘Additionally, formula milks need to be made using very specific measurements and so it’s not ideal to alter the proportions of milk/water in a baby’s bottle.’
Renowned baby expert, sleep consultant and health visitor Jill Irving agreed and said any child health professional would strongly advise against ‘knockout bottles’.
Some mothers took to social media to claim the bottles had kept their babies ‘sleeping longer’
‘The main reasons being it can cause choking or a baby to overeat and hence have an inappropriate weight gain,’ she said.
‘Parents who add food to their baby’s bottle are often doing so prior to 26 weeks which is when a baby should be weaned and not before. So this is also a big no.
‘There are absolutely no guarantees that a baby will sleep just because food has been added to the bottle. Also no medication should be added to a bottle unless otherwise advised by a medical practitioner.
‘So for example if a baby has reflux then the GP/HV will advise that something like Infant Gaviscon is added to the milk.
However others felt the method was dangerous, with one mother taking to social media to warn others against the method
‘If a parent routinely adds medication to a bottle and then the child doesn’t complete a feed then they have no idea if the drug has been taken. To summarise to add anything to formula milk unless recommended by a child health professional is a big “no”.’
Specialist Paediatric Dietitian and founder of UK Kids Nutrition, Bahee Van de Bor, admitted she was ‘shocked’ by the photos.
She advised: ‘Adding solids into a formula bottle increases babies risk of choking. It can also increase a baby’s intake of calories (above and beyond their requirements) and wouldn’t necessarily promote sleep.
‘It’s perfectly natural and normal for babies to wake up two or three times overnight.
‘It’s a natural instinct to try to stop babies from crying at night, but research suggests that letting babies cry a little bit with your loving support to teach them to learn to fall back to sleep, could help babies learn to soothe themselves when they do awake.’